Giggles, laughs, squeals of delight and even a few tears will fill the air on June 9, 2012.  The annual Free Fishing Days Derby is an event for the whole family.  The kids do the fishing but the grown-ups also enjoy the experience at Crab Orchard Lake in Williamson County. 

Free Fishing Days in Illinois are from June 8, 2012 to June 10, 2012.  This does not mean that you can trespass anywhere you please.  It means that anglers can fish without a license during those days.  All other fish and game laws, such as creel and length limits, continue to apply.  Some of Illinois state parks will have special events during the weekend and many will waive the entrance fee.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (1-618-997-3344) will celebrate the day on June 9, 2012 in the morning at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge west of Marion, Illinois on State Route 13. 

Fishing tackle, whether it is a rod and reel or terminal tackle, should be geared to the size and age of the angler.  Event sponsors will provide free use of tackle as well as supply the bait for this event. 

The only expense to the family in attendance is the cost of gasoline to get to the site of the old marina on Route 13 that is now Prairie Creek Recreation Area. 

Worms are the most popular bait among the young set.  They catch almost any kind of fish.  Worms are not difficult to put on a hook.  Adult assistance for fishing techniques and in baiting a hook will be available if required. 

The first 200 children to register at the site will receive a free T-shirt and a package of goodies.  Other prizes are for the biggest fish, smallest fish and most fish in each of the age categories.  Fishing will begin at 8:00 A.M. and continue until noon when the participants get a free hot dog lunch and prizes awarded. 

Some items to bring along on are common in all trips to the outdoors with the family.  They should include some sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, lawn chairs or a blanket and perhaps some snacks.  Lunch will be provided at noon during the awards ceremony.  A plastic bag with some veggies can be a welcome cure for the munchies.  There is something about adventure in the outdoors that stimulates the appetite.

The idea is to have the total experience be a positive one.  Then the young ones will want to come back again and might even be willing to bring you with them. 

For more information about this event, contact the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Visitor Center at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.  The telephone number is 618-997-3344.  The center is located at 8588 Route 148, Marion, Illinois 62959. 

Free information regarding motel accommodations and points of interest is available from Williamson County Tourism Bureau, 1602 Sioux Drive, Marion, Illinois 62959 or by calling 1-800-GEESE-99.  Information is also available online at visitsi.com, the Williamson County Tourism Bureau website.  Their e-mail address is info@visitsi.com.

Like its sister lake, Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley is well known for panfish action in the form of bluegills and crappie. However, while fishing there we discover its other panfish, the whiskered wonder. 

Catfish are probably the ultimate “pan fish”. They are the most popular eating fish across the country, enjoyed by millions of Americans. 

Damming of the Cumberland River formed Lake Barkley. The 40-mile long lake runs parallel to Kentucky Lake a few miles to the west. The lake itself is about 80,000 acres with little development along the shoreline. Much of the shoreline is the property of the TVA or the State of Kentucky. The water level generally reaches a maximum in late spring and early summer. It declines until late fall and then levels off for the winter months. 

Fishing with a local favorite, a jigging pole some nice catfish are caught everyday. Jigging poles are a 12 foot, very light rod, with an ultra light open-face spinning reel.  Some people actually use a converted fly rod. Without actually fishing for catfish, you can catch them with the light jigs and plastic grubs in dark colors. Baits that are more traditional are best.  Baits such as minnows, cut shad and nightcrawlers work well for catfish. 

The ultra light gear works well and provides excellent action that is both challenging and productive. Unlike the usual summer pattern of fishing early a.m. and late p.m., fall fishing requires action during the midday. The fish seem to be more active during the late morning and early afternoon warm up. Live green weeds near deep water are a good location to find fish. The green weeds provide oxygen in turn attracting baitfish. The catfish are attracted to the baitfish. 

Catfish action is usually good throughout the lake. In fall, more fish seem to be closer to shore. In most of the lake, catching catfish is more of an underwater structure game. Locals look to the downstream points of islands, creek intersections and the main channel ledge. Along the main channel, one can try vertical jigging with a slip bobber in about 15 feet of water.  Use such tasty items as chicken livers, cut bait and stink baits. With the current of the lake, scent given off by stink baits covers a large area attracting catfish from a long distance. 

The catfish taken from this lake are very clean and make excellent meals for the table.

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We started our day off visiting with Aaron McCale from Source Outdoor Group who gave us a very in depth look at the Day 6 Plotwatcher Pro. Admittedly, I had seen the product before but never paid too much attention to it. After getting a full look at the product and seeing how the time lapse photography feature can provide up to date scouting information over a much larger area than a standard trail cam can cover, I can certainly see how this can be a very beneficial tool for hunters.

The Plotwatcher Pro from Day 6 Outdoors comes with a standard lens, but does have both a zoom lens and a wide angle lens available as additional accessories.

Here Todd Graf watches a short time lapse video that was captured by a Plotwatcher Pro.

Later in the morning we had the opportunity to fling a few arrows out of the new Bowtech Insanity CPX, which was definitely a smooth shooter. With an IBO of 355 fps this bow smokes. The model we tested was only a 50 lb draw weight, but we certainly had a blast shooting down range at 100 yards at the GlenDel buck that was setup for us. Of course I outshot Todd, but that’s nothing new.

Terry Rohm from Tink’s was also on hand to give us a look at their new B-Tech scent elimination products. Available in a laundry detergent, hair & body wash and of course field sprays, B-Tech features a patented Byotrol technology which is proven to eliminate the bacteria that causes human odor. My personal favorite product was the field spray in the can that can be sprayed at any angle – even upside down. Having used this product in the field, I can atest that it’s a great product for being able to spray hard to reach areas like your back or the bottoms of your boots.

Terry Rohm explaning the benefits of Byotrol technology, which is found in the B-Tech scent eliminators.

Tink’s has everytying you need to stay scent free while in the woods.

We also caught up with Curt Price from Lumenok, who showed us a very helpful tip sheet that you can find at all Lumenok dealers. This visual aid shows you easy ways to troubleshoot any issues you may have with your lighted nocks, which are generally caused by improper arrow preparation. He also showed us the new lighted G nock, which works with your new Injexion micro diameter arrows from Easton.

Curt Price explaining the various issues with improper arrow preparation and how to easily resolve them.

The new lighted G nock from Lumenok works with Easton Injexion arrow shafts.

Alex Gyllstrom from Scent-Lok took some time to go over their new Carbon-Alloy technology with us. This new scent control technology pairs the proven activated carbon with Zeolite, which helps control some of the smallest scent molecules that may not be adsorbed by the carbon alone. The new Carbon-Alloy technology can be found in garments such as the new Rampage windproof fleece.

Alex Gyllstrom of Scent-Lok explains the benefits of the new Carbon-Alloy technology.

In the quiver department we got an in-depth look at the Chameleon from Bohning. For those who haven’t seen this quiver already, the unique feature is that you can switch a small plate on the hood from black to just about any camo you want in order to match your bow. So when you change bows next year you won’t need to buy a whole new quiver if you want your accessories to match. The Chameleon is 100% designed, engineered and made right here in the USA.

When it comes to broadeads, no doubt that Rage is a household name. For 2012 they have expanded their offerings to address some of the concerns and wants of their loyal customer base. For those who worried about blade deployment, either in quiver or in flight, they now offer a locking collar that provides 200% more strength at holding the blades closed, yet easily slides back upon impact to provide full blade deployment. The Shock Collars come with all new packages of broadheads, or can be purchased separately to retrofit heads you may already have at home.

Also new for 2012 is the Rage Xtreme, which lives up to it’s name with a massive 2.3 inch cutting diameter. The new Xtreme also features a larger blade on the tip of the ferrule, to assist with better penetration.

The standard Rage broadhead (top) now features a Shock Collar to hold the blades in place more security, while the Rage Xtreme (bottom) features a devastating 2.3 inch cutting diameter.

The folks at Wildgame Innovations showed us a new trail camera that’s coming out soon called the Lights Out. This no-glow camera features an easy to access LED display on the outside of the camera, and a very unique battery compartment. The two tubes you see on either side of the Lights Out hold 6 AA batteries, which provide extremely long battery life. The tubes also pivot backwards to help the camera fit more snugly onto smaller diameter trees, fence posts, or wherever you may need to mount it.

The unique design of the Lights Out camera from Wildgame Innovations uses two separate tubes to hold 12 AA batteries.

Last but certainly not least we had an opportunity to talk with Randy Birdsong with Flextone Game calls. Randy showed us the new Thunder Chicken 1/4 strut jake decoy. This decoy is ultra small and compact, which makes it pefect for guys who like to run and gun while chasing turkeys. It comes with a synthetic fan, or can be adapted to use your own real fan for the ultimate in life-like reality. Admittedly I’m not much of a turkey hunter, but this looked like a great decoy to me.

Randy Birdsong shows off the new Thunder Chicken turkey decoy from Flextone.

After we wrapped up the day and said our goodbyes, we packed up and drove 5 hours North so we could get back to real work today! As always, it was great seeing those who already knew, and great to meet a lot of new folks as well. Thanks again to Media Direct for putting on such a great event – we’re already looking forward to next year!

Make sure you stay tuned to the New Products section of our Bowhunting Video gallery, as we’ll have new videos from this event that will be posted starting next week.